Budget closes curtains on opportunity to restore Australian Arts: Greens

Greens Arts spokesperson Adam Bandt MP today said Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison closed the curtains on the opportunity to restore funding, independence and stability to the Australian arts sector in their Budget released last night.

“Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison have given an encore to former Arts Minister George Brandis’ attacks on the arts,” Mr Bandt said.

“In this Budget the government had the opportunity to end 12 months of uncertainty across the arts sector with very little impact on the Budget bottom line.”

“Instead, the Liberal government continues to let artists and art-lovers down by failing to restore the cuts to the Australia Council, independence to public funding for the arts and stability to the sector.”

“The government has buried their heads in the sand, ignoring the crisis that they have caused within the Australian arts community. To rub salt into the wounds, the Arts Minister didn’t even mention the arts in his Budget press release.”

“The Greens will continue to fight with the arts community until the flawed Catalyst program is closed, full funding is restored to the Australia Council and independence and stability is restored to Australian arts.”

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